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To [William Baxter or W. W. Baxter?]   8 December [1842–81]

Summary

Orders large pot of spermaceti ointment.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Walmisley Baxter; William Baxter
Date:  8 Dec [1842-81]
Classmark:  University of Otago, Special Collections (MS 49)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11271F

To [William Baxter or W. W. Baxter?]   [1842–82?]

Summary

Orders pot of soft spermaceti ointment.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Walmisley Baxter; William Baxter
Date:  [1842–82?]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.536)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11313

To [William Baxter or W. W. Baxter?]   10 [October 1842 – April 1882]

Summary

Orders distilled water, 2 oz of camphorated spirits, and perfume.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Baxter; William Walmisley Baxter
Date:  10 [Oct 1842 – Apr 1882]
Classmark:  Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13776

From Hugh Falconer    [1842–3]

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Summary

Has seen lately a true ruminant with the two central metacarpals distinct. It was the foot of an Anoplotherium in a recent ruminant.

Author:  Hugh Falconer
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [1842–3]
Classmark:  DAR 205.5: 215
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13805

To Charles Edward and Mary Kingford Mudie   10 December [1842–5 or 1855–68]

Summary

Declines invitation.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Edward Mudie; Mary Kingsford Pawling; Mary Kingsford Mudie
Date:  10 Dec [1842-5 or 1855-68]
Classmark:  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Charles E. Mudie Collection, 1816–1897: Correspondence, B29)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13828

To ?   [1842–82]

Summary

Will be glad to see recipient and Mr Morris at Down the following day.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Unidentified
Date:  [1842–82]
Classmark:  eBay (April 2001)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-13867G

To [William Baxter or W. W. Baxter?]   24 October [1842–5 or 1853 or 1855–68?]

Summary

Sends enclosed order for two bottles [of unspecified chemical].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Walmisley Baxter; William Baxter
Date:  24 Oct [1842-5, 1853 or 1855-68]
Classmark:  University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library (BANC MSS 74/78 z)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1768

To John Price    29 November [1842–55]

Summary

Not able to assist JP as he knows no schoolmaster in the area.

Cannot answer zoological question but thinks the two Serpulae are distinct.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Price
Date:  29 Nov [1842-55]
Classmark:  University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library (BANC MSS 74/78 z)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1786

To Charles Lyell   [September–December 1842]

Summary

Discusses relationship of subsidence to the formation of coral reefs.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Lyell, 1st baronet
Date:  [Sept–Dec 1842]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.30)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-605

From Alexander Bridport Becher   1 September 1842

Summary

Francis Beaufort has instructed ABB to order three copies of Coral Reefs.

Author:  Alexander Bridport Becher
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Sept 1842
Classmark:  United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Archive (Letter Book no .10 (1841–2), p. 510)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-605F

To William Yarrell   [5 or 12 September 1842]

Summary

CD is too dull and languid to see Mr Bicheno but will be glad to answer his questions if he writes.

Asks WY to ask J. Sebright "whether the cross with white bantam brought back any of the ""secondary male characters"" to the hen–cock breed".

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Yarrell
Date:  [5 or 12] Sept 1842
Classmark:  Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand (Letters to Dr William Kitchen Parker and his sons, MS-Papers-1256-2)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-613

To Charles Stokes    [January–March 1842]

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Summary

Returns snuff box.

Sends a microscope for repair.

Makes appointment to discuss some corals that he is sending.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Stokes
Date:  [Jan–Mar 1842]
Classmark:  DAR 185: 91
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-613A

To Leonard Jenyns   [13? January 1842]

Summary

CD is pleased with LJ’s introduction [to Fish]. He rejoices that he persuaded LJ to undertake this work.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Leonard Jenyns; Leonard Blomefield
Date:  [13? Jan 1842]
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-614

To J. S. Henslow   [26 January 1842]

Summary

CD relates that Robert Brown is anxious to have [C. M.] Leman[n] elected librarian of the Linnean Society and urges JSH to come to vote for him. CD joins in the request.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Stevens Henslow
Date:  [26 Jan 1842]
Classmark:  Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-615

To the Geological Society of London   31 January [1842]

Summary

Hopes to meet with museum committee after 11 o’clock next day.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Geological Society of London
Date:  31 Jan [1842]
Classmark:  Geological Society of London (GSL/L/R/7/25)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-616

To J. F. Royle   [2 February 1842]

Summary

Asks JFR to support E. A. Darwin’s election to the Athenaeum.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  John Forbes Royle
Date:  [2 Feb 1842]
Classmark:  University of Rochester Libraries, Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-617

To Francis Boott   [3 February 1842]

Summary

"My Dear Sir, I have called on you, to solicit your vote & interest at the Athenaeum Club […] in favour of my brother, Erasmus Darwin".

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Francis Boott
Date:  [3 Feb 1842]
Classmark:  Christie’s (dealers) (13 December 2006, lot 34)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-617F

To Richard Owen   [4 February 1842]

Summary

Informs Owen of the fossil finds of F. J. Muñiz in south America.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Richard Owen
Date:  [4 Feb 1842]
Classmark:  Enns Entomology Museum, University of Missouri
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-617G

To H. T. De la Beche   7 February 1842

Summary

Asks De la Beche about variation among domesticated animals in Jamaica.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Henry Thomas De la Beche
Date:  7 Feb 1842
Classmark:  National Museum of Wales, Department of Natural Sciences (De la Beche)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-618

To Hugh Edwin Strickland   17 February [1842]

Summary

CD approves of HES’s "laws" [of nomenclature]. Regrets that [J. E.?] Gray does not approve of the scheme. CD has sent the paper to William Ogilby and suggests that HES send it to G. R. Waterhouse, of whom he has a high opinion.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Date:  17 Feb [1842]
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-619
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Darwin and Fatherhood

Summary

Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … and writing from home. Although when he moved to Downe in 1842 he described this part of Kent as …
  • … death of a baby daughter only a few weeks after her birth in 1842 had a far more limited impact on …
  • … were favourite family games, and in 1859 he ended a letter to his oldest son with the exclamation ‘I …
  • … (Darwin to his son William,  [30 October 1858] ). In one letter in 1856, he explained his paternal …

Natural Selection: the trouble with terminology Part I

Summary

Darwin encountered problems with the term ‘natural selection’ even before Origin appeared.  Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with objections. Broadly these divided into concerns either that its meaning simply wasn’t…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … heading in the earliest outline of his theory written in 1842 , and, as he told Asa Gray in …
  • … of twenty years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a …
  • … Nevertheless, regret lingered, and he wrote in a later letter to Lyell: ' Talking of “Natural …
  • … used natural preservation '. (There is now a hole in the letter where Darwin wrote ' …

Darwin & coral reefs

Summary

The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. A letter from Robert Edward Alison, who had …
  • … first sighting of a coral island is confirmed by a letter to his sister Caroline, written on 29 …
  • … the time of the visit of the  Beagle  to Tahiti. The letter of 29 April was written shortly after …
  • … he had a sound theory and one that was worth publishing. The letter continues: ‘I hope to be able to …
  • … theory,  The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs  (1842) was based on intensive reading and …
  • … heart’ to have finished writing his book on coral reefs: letter to Leonard Jenyns [9 May 1842] . …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … Illustrations of the Domestic animals of Gt. Britain [D. Low 1842].— 23  must be read carefully. …
  • … Erasmus—— Lavater. Life & Correspondence [?Heisch 1842] Coleridge. Literary …
  • … Cicero [Middleton 1741] W. Meister’s Life [Goethe 1842].— Malcolm’s History of Persia …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … [DAR *119: 15] Zanoni by Bulwer [Bulwer-Lytton 1842]. Life of D. of Marlborough [A. …
  • … organs read A. Alison on Population. 2 vols. Feb. 1842 [A. Alison 1840].— Youatt in …
  • … 1836]: worth looking at. Low has probably told all [D. Low 1842] Madras Journal [ Madras …
  • … Soc. appears to be good Papers on Sewalik Fossils in 1842 [Cautley 1840 and Cautley and Falconer …
  • … Read “Bronn’s Geschicte der Natur.” [Bronn 1842–3] Kingdons translat …
  • … Jussieus introduct to Bot. price 6 s  [Jussieu 1842] [DAR *119: 20v.] …
  • … Cerealia [Loiseleur Deslongchamps 1842–3] Phytologist [ …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … (List from Muller & Bronn [Müller 1837–42 and Bronn 1842–3] in this Book) 52 Royle …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … . Smollets William & Mary. & Anne [Smollett 1805].— 1842 Jan 10 M rs …
  • … —— 17 th  Laing notes of a Traveller 1 vol [Laing 1842] —— Finished Wordsworth 6 vols. …
  • … such  instincts .— [DAR 119: 12b] 1842 March. 26 th  Holcroft’s Memoirs …
  • … [Hyde 1704] Feb. Vol. of Madame D’Arblay [Burney 1842–6] Mar 1. Lieut. Eyres Narrative …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 15 hits

  • … their first child, William Erasmus, was born. In September 1842, the family, now increased by a …
  • … and explore new avenues of thought, and by the summer of 1842 he felt that his research had …
  • … of species  was published, but the general outline of 1842 is, to a surprising degree, present in …
  • … far from their original locations. The following year, 1842, having heard of evidence of glaciation …
  • … letters have suffered an even more severe loss. In a letter to Lyell’s sister-in-law, Katharine …
  • … of fact . . . on the origin & variation of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] …
  • … that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called the ‘mystery …
  • … about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838 …
  • … just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July …
  • … there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • … for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • … research required. The trip to North Wales in June 1842 was his last field trip: thereafter his …
  • … stays at Shrewsbury and Maer during the summers of 1841 and 1842 show that he was making botanical …
  • … notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 128–30). The letter, on ‘Double flowers’ to the  …
  • … obvious relevance to the theory of descent (Pencil sketch of 1842, in  Foundations , p. 74). …

Darwin’s Photographic Portraits

Summary

Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … looking to sell Darwin’s image to the masses. Between 1842 and his death in 1882, Darwin was …
  • … Image: Charles Darwin and William Darwin, c. 1842, attributed to Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797 …
  • … to the copy he had sent five years previously in his 1860 letter to Hooker , Darwin exclaimed …
  • … gaze. These photographs were rarely included in a Darwin letter, save for perhaps a very few close …
  • … taken for public consumption. Responding to  a letter from a German translator – Adolph …
  • … which you do me the honour to wish to possess.” As the letter and photograph had to travel from Down …

Darwin’s observations on his children

Summary

Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…

Matches: 17 hits

  • … his mouth to do so.—[35] 25v.  Feb. 20 th . 1842. Anny (, same age) has learned to shake …
  • … 28v. [39] Anny was to day March 1 st  1842 rather amused, at a wafer sticking first to one hand …
  • … case of my watch.— 29v.  March 1 st  1842— Anny says Papa pretty clearly—[40] A few days …
  • … pretty & Papa for a week past perfectly clear Feb 1842 I have long observed that the …
  • … for their feelings— 31 [42] In Jan ry . 1842 it was first perceived that Willy began to …
  • … our door N o  12 and N o  11 is in the slit for the Letter box.— he decidedly ran past N o  11 …
  • … has learned them from my sometimes changing the first letter in any word he is using—thus I say …
  • … “bub my crumps” & 31v.  March 29 th . 1842.— I have some months remarked how much …
  • … gabble nonsense words,— 33  March 20: th .— 1842 Doddy is a great adept at throwing …
  • … the eyes & is a full face.— 36  March 26 th  1842 2 years & 3 mth— Doddy was …
  • … not the “beast in house”.— 37v. [50] May 1. 1842. 14 months old It is curious to see how …
  • … down the corners of his mouth[51] June 1 st . 1842 Observed the first day I put on a new …
  • … stuck to it, “no Doddy did not”. Aug 26 th .. 1842 About a fortnight ago, I met Willy …
  • … , pp. 131–2. [6]  Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from Emma Wedgwood, [23 January 1839] . …
  • … at Upper Gower Street between 12 February and 16 March 1842. [43] Stammering ran in the …
  • … [51] Emma Darwin and the children went to Maer on 3 May 1842; CD joined them on 18 May (Emma Darwin …
  • … of bees in pollination, made in the summers between 1840 and 1842, are in DAR 46.2 and DAR 205.5: 53 …

Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications

Summary

This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics.  Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … of the Geological Society of London  2nd ser. 6 (1842): 415-31.  [ Shorter publications , pp. 147 …
  • … to 1836 . By Charles Darwin. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1842.  [F271.] —Notes on the …
  • … by floating ice.  Philosophical Magazine  21 (1842): 180-8.   [ Shorter publications , pp.  140 …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …

Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year

Summary

The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … be done by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August …
  • … pleasures of shooting and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ).  Such …
  • … And … one looks backwards much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). …
  • … was an illusory hope.— I feel very old & helpless’  ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] …
  • … inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 26 October …
  • … in such rubbish’, he confided to Joseph Dalton Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • … that Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). …
  • … his, ‘& that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874 …
  • … Darwin had allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). …
  • … bookseller had in obtaining the first edition, published in 1842 ( Correspondence  vol. 21, …
  • … Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 8 January …
  • … to take so sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March …
  • … sent an apology for misinterpreting Darwin on this point ( letter from J. D. Dana, 21 July 1874 ); …
  • … numbers and sex ratios among the Pitcairn islanders ( letter from William Dealtry, 16 January 1874 …
  • … will say that I have pounded the enemy into a jelly’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 14 April 1874 ). …
  • … by none but anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). …
  • … the return on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 …
  • … by the conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
  • … legal action over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). …
  • … false, scurrilous accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). …
  • … as father and son agonised over the wording of both the letter to the editor and the letter to …
  • … relationship with Murray on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ) …
  • … is refused I’m really no worse off than if I had sent my letter direct to the Editor & it had …

Living and fossil cirripedia

Summary

Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … had also completed two outlines of his ‘species theory’ (1842 Pencil sketch and 1844 Essay). …
  • … year on cirripede anatomy, Darwin wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and …
  • … his conclusions about larval-adult homologies in a letter to Dana in December 1853 . …

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … Government grant was exhausted ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, …
  • … are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [11 January 1844] ). …
  • … the essay of 1844 to read (see  Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]) …
  • … himself: as he told his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of [24 April 1845] , he felt he …
  • … Natural selection Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwin’s species theory, …
  • … should be denied him. After prolonged illnesses in 1841 and 1842, years poorly represented in the  …
  • … Darwin not only used his personal notes and records but, by letter, marshalled the resources of …
  • … of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 February 1845] ) …

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … ). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in …
  • … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
  • … it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay …
  • … coincidence. if Wallace had my M.S. sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short …
  • … I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all …

Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter

Summary

The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … in his health was indicated by his comment in a letter to Hooker on 29 [May 1854] : ‘Very far …
  • … large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my …
  • … he had written to Hooker ( Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 [June 1850] ), …
  • … interested in animal breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
  • … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
  • … his views now depends on men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
  • … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
  • … of the matter, a vigorous attack is essential. Letter 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, …
  • … political, and religious differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 …
  • … “ . . . if Wallace had my MS sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short …
  • … MS, but Darwin will offer to send it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his views from anything Darwin wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … he does not feel this alters the justice of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & …
  • … reasons for arranging the joint presentation. Letter 2306 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … is now planning a 30-page abstract for a journal. Letter 2337 — Wallace, A. R. to …
  • … paper public unaccompanied by his own views. Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
  • … of minute variations and sexual selection. Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, …
  • … George Darwin’s notes on Wallace’s argument. Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
  • … and form new species without being isolated. Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. …
  • … relating to sterility that they will never agree. Letter 6095 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … cannot be increased through natural selection. Letter 6104 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, …

Alfred Russel Wallace

Summary

Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … by Wallace’s observations and theoretical abilities. In a letter of 1 May 1857, he alluded to his …
  • … on 18 June, “if Wallace had my M.S. sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short …
  • … as too metaphorical and prone to misinterpretation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 2 July 1866). …
  • … phenomena, open to scientific investigation (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 18 April [1869]). …
  • … letters to Wallace, 17 June 1876 and 7 January 1881, and the letter from A. R. Wallace, 29 January …
  • … chief”, while Darwin was the “great General” (letter to Charles Kingsley, 7 May 1869). In later …
  • … jealousy towards each other, though in one sense rivals” (letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870]). …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
  • … has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • … throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have …
  • … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
  • … coincidence. if Wallace had my M.S. sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short …
  • … on Charles Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
  • … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
  • … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • … of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the …
  • … 20 May via Southampton. According to Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time …
  • … at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallace’s letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its …
  • … work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858], that he …
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858], he …
  • … of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of …
  • … papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858, including a letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him …
  • … Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest …
  • … of his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). …
  • … kidney beans’, to the  Gardeners’ Chronicle  (see letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 13 …
  • … for the work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice ( letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). …

1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait

Summary

< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … youth survive, although more may once have existed . In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, …
  • … estimate of Richmond’s work can be gauged from a letter which Hooker wrote to Darwin some years …
  • … a second portrait of ‘Mrs Charles Darwin’ followed in 1842. Perhaps this suggests that a second pair …
  • … account books, entry for Dec. 1839. Joseph Hooker, letter to Darwin, 17 March 1862 (DCP-LETT-3474). …
  • … this seemingly conflicts with the indications in Erasmus’s letter of 1866, quoted above.   
 …

About Darwin

Summary

To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection.  But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … and privately developed a theory of evolution.  In 1842, Charles and Emma moved just south of London …
  • … his views on evolution in 1858, when Darwin learned by letter that Alfred Russel Wallace had …

About Darwin

Summary

To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection.  But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … and privately developed a theory of evolution.  In 1842, Charles and Emma moved just south of London …
  • … his views on evolution in 1858, when Darwin learned by letter that Alfred Russel Wallace had …
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